Container having safety closure

ABSTRACT

A container which could be used to store drugs, chemicals, poisons and other harmful substances, having a safety and &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;child-proof&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; closure comprising an insert, sometimes called a bung or plug, which is screw threaded into the opening in the container making it air tight and liquid tight and a cap screw threaded onto the container over the insert whereby both the cap and the insert has to be removed to dispense the contents. To make it more difficult, the insert may be tightly screwed into the opening until it is flush or below the entrance edge by means of a complementary fitting comprising an irregular shaped projection on the outside of the cap which fits a complementary, identical and irregularly shaped recess in said insert whereby a certain amount of intelligence and manipulation is necessary to effect the insertion and remove the insert. The cap has an opening large enough to permit escape of the contents so that the bung or insert must be replaced to maintain integrity of the container.

United States Patent 1191 QConnor et al.

[ Oct. 15, 1974 1 CONTAINER HAVING SAFETY CLOSURE [76] Inventors: Ian A.OConnor, 10447 SW. 108

Ave., Apt. 102E, Miami, Fla. 33156; James A. OConnor, 477 Harbor Dr.,North, Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. 33535 [22] Filed: Aug. 10, 1972 [2l IAppl. No.: 279,316

Primary Examiner-Donald F. Norton Attorney, Agent, or FirmPatrick F.Henry 5 7 ABSTRACT A container which could be used to store drugs,chemicals, poisons and other harmful substances, having a safety aridchild-proof" closure comprising an insert, sometimes called a bung orplug, which is screw threaded into the opening in the container makingit air tight and liquid tight and a cap screw threaded onto thecontainer over the insert whereby both the cap and the insert has to beremoved to dispense the contents. To make it more difficult, the insertmay be tightly screwed into the opening until it is flush or below theentrance edge by means of a complementary fitting comprising anirregular shaped projection on the outside of the cap which fits acomplementary, identical and irregularly shaped recess in said insertwhereby a certain amount of intelligence and manipulation is necessaryto effect the insertion and remove the insert. The cap has an openinglarge enough to permit escape of the contents so that the bung or insertmust be replaced to maintain integrity of the contamer.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 CONTAINER-HAVING SAFETY CLOSURE BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Containers having safetyclosure devices. Safety closure devices for containers comprisinginserts and some fitting, such as a tool, to remove the insert.

2.Description of the Prior Art Prior art includes the-following patentsrecently classified in Class 215, Subclass 9: 3,044,648; 3,124,264;3,450,290; 3,473,681; 3,409,159 and 3,430,795.

The arrangement of a safety closure container with an interlockingarrangement between relatively removable portion of the disclosure isdisclosed in the above noted prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,648discloses an outer cap having a key when turned upside down fits intothe inner plug closure. The Velt U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,159 discloses whatmight broadly be considered an insert which is opened by a separate caphaving a keyed arrangement. The manner and means for retaining theinsert and removing same has a lot to do with both the cost ofmanufacturing the container and the effectiveness of the containerinsofar as preventing entry. Also, if the arrangement as presented insome of the above noted patents is too complex than no one would wish touse the containers because of the trouble and time involved in gettingto the contents removing or replacing the cap. People who depend upondrugs and pills at regular intervals and at certain times do not alwayshave the most patience and sometimes actually need the medication ratherrapidly. Therefore, safety closure arrangements must not only bechild-proof but must also be adult-proof against carelessness and apathyyet easily operated by adults and manufactured at a reasonable cost. Theabove noted prior art devices will function after the safety insert isdiscarded as by accident or carelessness. It is considered that theabove noted prior art arrangements are not the same as presented herein.In the prior patents mentioned, if their inserts are discarded throughcarelessness the caps can be replaced and they are no longer safetycontainers but rather conventional containers. This invention precludesthis from occuring due to the cap having a hole passing completelythrough it.

I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A container such as a plastic bottle with aneck receives a detachable insert, sometimes also referred to as a bungor plug, which may be threaded or otherwise retained in place in such away as to make it difficult to remove by fingers alone such as beingflush position with the top of the neck or'forced in tightly whereby itis virtually impossible to remove with the fingers. The closure cap forthe container has a product opening therethrough and a small keyedarrangement or tool extending therefrom which fits into a recessed,complementary-shaped cavity in the top of the insert which is alsoformed with slanted sides whereby it is virtually impossible for anyoneto remove it without the complementary tool on the cap which is toocomplicated for a small child to fathom. The arrangement is such that itmay be molded or similarly formed in one simple operation and in onematerial as well as a combination of materials such as metal andplastic, glass and plastic, or glass and metal, or any other suitablematerial or combination of materials.

An object of this invention is to provide a safety closure arrangementwhich is easy to manufacture and simple to operate.

Another object of this invention resides in the ar. rangement of aninsert which may be made from a similar or dissimilar material from thecontainer with a recessed portion of irregular shape which must beopened by a similarly configured tool and means, in the form of a capopening in the preferred embodiment, whereby the utility or integrity ofthe container is destroyed if the insert is not used.

Another object of this invention is found in the arrangementwhichpermits the use of any number of different irregular shapes andchildren are not apt to learn how to open one even over a period oftime.

A further advantage is the accomplishment of some of the foregoingwithout springs, valves or independently moving parts. B

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent uponreading the following description of a preferred embodiment and themodifications thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENTIn FIG. 1 the overall assembled and completed container is referred toby reference numeral 10 and com prises the container main body 12 whichmay be a plastic bottle, glass bottle, glass container, or othercontainer having a neck 14 which is threaded on the outside and on theinside 16. There is a conventional dispensing opening 18 leading to theinterior of the container body 12 through which the contents 20 such aspills, liquids, powders or other substances may be dispensed. Thecontainer 10 and the construction thereof is conventional and thepresent invention lends itself to the use of any container, closurearrangement and other conventional arrangements.

An insert 22 which also is sometimes referred to as a bung or plug, maybe manufactured from glass, plastic, wood or any other material which iseither similar or dissimilar to the material for the container 10 andhas a threaded exterior portion 24 which matches the threads inside thethreaded neck 16. The flat top 26 of insert has a recessed or concaveportion 28 which in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is an asymetricaltriangle in configuration with a closed bottom 30 and angled sides 32.The entire insert 22 may be screwed down into the opening 18 until theflat top 26 is flush with the top edge 27 of the neck 14 or therebelowwhich makes it more difficult to remove the insert 22.

The threads inside the threaded neck 16 may be so ar ranged as to causethe insert 22 to become tight just after the flat top 26 drops slightlybelow the top edge of the neck 16 so that the insert is very tight inthe opening and force must be used to remove it.

A conventional screw threaded closure or cap 34 with the usual internalthreads 35 matching the external threads on neck 14 has been modifiedeither by molding or separate provision to include a projection 36 whichis a tool complementary and substantially identical to the recessedarrangement 28 in the insert 22 for the purpose of inserting therein andturning the insert from its opening. The projection 36 is an asymetricaltriangle and has sides 38 and a flat top 40. An opening 42 extendscompletely through the projection 36 and through the flat top 44 of thecap 34 to prevent the use of the cap 34 and the container without theuse of the insert 22 which is an additional safety feature preventingthe present arrangement from being defeated by carelessness orthoughtlessness. The hole 42 in cap 34 extends through the top of thecap 34 and lengthwise thru the projection 36. The purpose of the hole 42is to prevent careless or hasty persons from simply throwing away thebung 22 when the container 12 is first opened and simply using the capalone for subsequent closures. The size of the hole is not so criticalexcept that itshould not be so large as to seriously impair the strengthof the projecting key tool 36 but yet large enought to permit easypassage of the containers 12 contents whether liquid, powder, capsule,or tablet, and so as to prevent its use as a closure on its own. lt isalso noted that the presence of the hole 42 further adds to the visualconfusion of the mirror image asymmetric triangular key and recess whenviewed by a child. Also, the presence of the hold 42 may relieve thesupplier of the containers or the contents from liability in productsliability matters or in the regulations about safety containers fromgovernment as it renders the container substantially useless for mostpurposes if the insert is left out.

All the parts could be manufactured in like substances for both thecontainer 12 and the top insert 22 in cap 34 such as glass with glass,metal with metal, plastic with plastic, or with parts of unlikesubstances such as glass with metal, metal with plastic, plastic withglass, etc. It should be noted that there are no moving parts except forthe motion transmitted by the manipulation by hand and therefore thereare no springs or valves, pistons or plungers or other similar moreexpensive and more complex organizations. Acturally there are just threebasic parts and two of which are conventional in containers, thecontainer and the cap, with the additional provision of the removableinsert or plug.

The projection 36 is a tool for removing the plug insert 22 which to anormal adult would be a simple matter of inserting the tool projection36 and turning it until it matches with the complementary opening 28 butto a small child this would be a very dilficult, due to the fact that itis in-mirror image, and by using asymmetrical designs which permits thetwo parts to fit together only one way thus presenting a puzzling andimpossible situation which would take so long that surely the childwould abandon its efforts. Careless adults are prevented from removingthe insert 22 and discarding it permanently on first use by means of thehole in the form of the through opening 42 which can be of varying sizesdependent only upon the contents of the container. in the case ofliquids the hole 42 does not need to be very large nor need it be verylarge for containers which contain powdered contents. However, forcontainers which are intended to contain pills or tablets the holeshould be of such a size that without the insert 22 in place thecontents could be dispensed through the hole 42 itself which of courseis against the purpose of the safety container as well as making thecontainer useless to prevent air from entering which would discouragecareless adults from throwing the insert 22 away. in a sense theprojection or tool 36 is a key and the insert 22 is the lock with thecavity of the recessed concave portion 28 is the keyhole and entrancewhich unlocks the insert 22. The recess 28 adapts so readily butaccurately the counterpart geometric projection tool 36 that many, manyconfigurations could be used for this lock and key arrangement thesimplest desirable one being that which in cross-section is an isoscelestriangle (just short of being an equilateral triangle) since thisprovides the simplest arrangement whereby the key can be inserted intothe lock recessed portion 28 in one position only. It should be noted animportant feature of this invention is that on looking down into thetriangular recess on top of the bung or insert 22 and down into theconcave portion 28, the one triangle is aconcave mirror image of theother convex so that a young child from simple inspection of the twowould not readily conclude that one was intended to fit the other. Thevarious complexities that involve recognition of the relative positionsof the engaging angles between lock and key prior to insertion of thecap 34 and the necessity from making a coordinated insertion with novisual aids are all features of this invention.

The geometric design of the projection 42 and the concave portion 28 andhole 42 should be of sufficient size to allow the tool to operateporportionate to the size of the container and the contents.

The use in containers of the variety employed in the filling anddispensing of prescriptions which are not intended for long shelf life aslight variation of this container can be used. Such containers areusually conventionally cylindrical in shape and manufactured in plasticwith snap-on tops which are neither air tight nor liquid tight but arespecifically designed for short shelf life items. In FIG. 3 there isshown a modified container designated generally by reference numeral 60and having a conventional cylindrical container body 62 with a lip 64 inthe top leading to a large opening 66 about which there are projectingflanges or ledges 68 having intermediate recessed arcuate portions 70receiving the insert 72 which has a circular body 74 with taperedprojection 76 that fit into the portion 70 and after turrling lock inplace against the projection 68. The insert 72 has a flat top 80 and aconcave portion 82 of asymmetrical triangular configuration the same asin the previous embodiment. The snap-on cap 86 has an internal bead 88which snaps over the lip 64 of the container 62 and has a flat top 90which is arranged the projecting tool or key 92 of complementaryconfiguration to the recess of concave portion 82. The projection 92 hassides 94 and a through opening 96 for same purpose as in the previousembodiment. This simpler form of the container 60 is suitable for usewhere short term storage is only intended and not under the mostrigorous conditions as for example where a relatively small quantity ofa medicinal substance is dispensed by a pharmacist for an individualsuse within a few days.

While the present invention is certainly intended for holding andtransporting medicinal substances under standard conditions acceptablefor such substances its use is not restricted to the packaging ofmedicinal compounds but is equally suitable for the packaging, long andshort term storage and transportation of any various or potentiallypoisonous substances including commonly used household chemicals such asacids, alkalis, bleaches, polishes, insecticides, garden chemicals,detergents, cleansing agents, and any substance whatsoever in liquid ordry form.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of thisinvention together with an alternative embodiment and suggestedmodification this is for the purpose of illustration and understandingand does not constitute any sort of limitation on the scope of theinvention since various alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations,additions, removals, substitutions and departures may be made in theembodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of theinvention as shown in the appended Claims.

I claim:

1. In a safety container:

a. a container body having an opening therein through which thecontents, including solid pills or liquid medicines and chemicals, maybe dispensed, said container opening being provided with part ofmatching rotational retaining means,

b. an insert having retaining means thereon matching with and fittingsaid rotational retaining means in said op ening gid insert beingthereby rotated into position in said opening so that mannerism insertis substantially even and flush with the top of said container openingwhereby it is not possible for a small child to grasp any significantpart of the insert with the fingers for removal from said containeropening, said insert being retained in said opening by said matchingretaining means and it requiring rotation for removal therefrom,

c. a closure fitted on said container body and over said insert whensaid insert is in said opening in said container body, said closurehaving a through opening therethrough whereby if said closure wereplaced on said container body without said insert in place saidcontainer contents would be exposed to the outside and the contentscould dispense therefrom, thereby to discourage the use of the containerwithout the insert and to encourage the replacement of the insert afterremoval,

d. an irregularly-shaped projection on said closure functioning as atool providing the only ready means whereby the insert which is at leastsubstantially flush may be rotated and removed,

e. and an irregularly-shaped recess in said insert complimentary withand matching said projection in one and only one position of saidprojection and recess, whereby it is necessary to align and match therecess and projection in order to use the closure and projection as atool for turning and removing the insert thereby providing animpendiment to the use by a small child.

2. The device in claim 1 wherein said closure is a cap and saidcontainer has a threaded portion thereon onto which said cap is fitted.

3. The device in claim 1, wherein said insert has a plurality of threadsthereon matching with a plurality of threads in said opening.

4. The device in claim 1 wherein said closure is a ca and said containerhas a threaded portion thereon onto which said cap is fitted, therebeing a plurality of threads on said insert matching with a plurality ofthreads in said opening.

5. The device in claim 1, said opening in said closure being throughsaid projection.

6. The device in claim 1: said insert having projecting lugs that fitbeneath ledges on said opening, said insert being retained by insertingsaid lugs in open spaces and then turning said insert whereby said toolon said closure is required to remove said insert.

7. The device in claim 1: said tool being an irregular geometricalshape.

8. The device in claim 1:

said insert being inserted substantially flush with or lower than theterminal edge of the container body at the container opening whereby itis difficult to remove the insert with the fingers alone so that a childwill be discouraged.

9. The device in claim 1:

said recess being a concave asymmetrical triangle and said projectionbeing a convex complementary configuration whereby the view thereof to achild complicates the understanding of opening relationship.

1. In a safety container: a. a container body having an opening thereinthrough which the contents, including solid pills or liquid medicinesand chemicals, may be dispensed, said container opening being providedwith part of matching rotational retaining means, b. an insert havingretaining means thereon matching with and fitting said rotationalretaining means in said opening, said insert being thereby rotated inposition in said opening so that the top of said insert is substantiallyeven and flush with the top of said container opening whereby it is notpossible for a small child to grasp any significant part of the insertwith the fingers for removal from said container opening, said insertbeing retained in said opening by said matching retaining means and itrequiring rotation for removal therefrom, c. a closure fitted on saidcontainer body and over said insert when said insert is in said openingin said container body, said closure having a through openingtherethrough whereby if said closure were placed on said container bodywithout said insert in place said container contents would be exposed tothe outside and the contents could dispense therefrom, thereby todiscourage the use of the container without the insert and to encouragethe replacement of the insert after removal, d. an irregularly-shapedprojection on said closure functioning as a tool providing the onlyready means whereby the insert which is at least substantially flush maybe rotated and removed, e. and an irregularly-shaped recess in saidinsert complimentary with and matching said projection in one and onlyone position of said projection and recess, whereby it is necessary toalign and match the recess and projection in order to use the closureand projection as a tool for turning and removing the insert therebyproviding an impendiment to the use by a small child.
 2. The device inclaim 1 wherein said closure is a cap and said container has a threadedportion thereon onto which said cap is fitted.
 3. The device in claim 1,wherein said insert has a plurality of threads thereon matching with aplurality of threads in said opening.
 4. The device in claim 1 whereinsaid closure is a cap and said container has a threaded portion thereononto which said cap is fitted, there being a plurality of threads onsaid insert matching with a plurality of threads in said opening.
 5. Thedevice in claim 1, said opening in said closure being through saidprojection.
 6. The device in claim 1: said insert having projecting lugsthat fit beneath ledges on said opening, said insert being retained byinserting said lugs in open spaces and then turning said insert wherebysaid tool on said closure is required to remove said insert.
 7. Thedevice in claim 1: said tool being an irregular geometrical shape. 8.The device in claim 1: said insert being inserted substantially flushwith or lower than the terminal edge of the container body at thecontainer opening whereby it is difficult to remove the insert with thefingers alone so that a child will be discouraged.
 9. The device inclaim 1: said recess being a concave asymmetrical triangle and saidprojection being a convex complementary configuration whereby the viewthereof to a child complicates the understanding of openingrelationship.